Press Releases

CAMRA names recently renovated club the best in the country

Press Release

Wednesday 28th February 2018

CAMRA names recently renovated club the best in the country

The Flixton Conservative Club in Manchester has won the prestigious Campaign for Real Ale (CAMRA) Club of the Year award after a recent transformation has seen an even wider range of real ales and ciders brought in.

On top of a friendly atmosphere and good beer selection, the well maintained club runs a number of social events for the local community including brewery nights, quiz events and sports teams including snooker. There is even a walking group and a popular chess club that meets once a week in the club's function room. Regular entertainment takes place over the weekend with music, bingo and Open the Box with the chance to win up to £1,000.

The club previously won the local CAMRA Club of the Year award but this is the first time it has made it through to the national round. It will be presented with a plaque to commemorate the award at an event open to the media on the 28th February 2018 at 6pm.

Nigel Porter at Flixton Conservative Club says: "This is really fantastic news, we are absolutely thrilled to be named CAMRA National Club of the Year especially given the very high standard of the other clubs in the final four. There are a lot of excellent Clubs out there doing a great job so to be judged as the best in the country is just an immense privilege and we would like to thank both CAMRA and Club Mirror for this honour.

"This really is a total team effort. The Club is very fortunate in having a very supportive committee, really friendly and knowledgeable bar staff and a great bunch of members who just show so much enthusiasm for everything we do. The quality of our real ale has been paramount to the success of the Club and a great deal of the credit for that needs to go to all of the terrific brewers who supply us and support us in so many ways.

"Finally, our thanks go to CAMRA (with a special mention to our local branch - Trafford & Hulme) for their continued support and encouragement."

The CAMRA Club of the Year competition is run in conjunction with Club Mirror magazine, with the simple aim of finding the clubs with the greatest commitment to quality real ale – those which offer a fantastic atmosphere, welcoming surroundings and most importantly, top quality real ale served in great condition. All nominated clubs in the competition are independently assessed by a panel of CAMRA volunteers throughout the year.

Keith Spencer, Chairman of CAMRA's Clubs Working Group says: "The Flixton Conservative Club has transformed itself over the last five years under new stewardship by expanding the real ale offering from just two to six at a time. The club is reaping the benefits and has become a thriving hub to the local community and a worthy winner of this year's award."

Club Mirror's Head of Judges Caroline Scoular said: "The four super regional winners were truly impressive clubs. The range and quality of ales was surpassed only by the quality of their welcome. Congratulations to them all for making the final four, and very well done to Flixton, a very worthy winner."

Runners-up in the competition include two Royal Air Force Association (RAFA) clubs - the Albatross Club in Bexhill-on-Sea and the Real Ale Farm in Bargoed, Wales - as well as the Appleton Thorn Village Hall in Warrington, which all boast a wide range of well-kept, fantastic real ales.

The club will be presented with its plaque at an event immediately following the national Pub of the Year presentation, which is taking place at the neighbouring Cricketers Arms in St Helens at 1pm.

Ends

Notes to editor:

The presentation event will be taking place at 6pm on the 28th February, preceded by the national Pub of the Year presentation which is just a 30 minute drive away and will be taking place at 1pm.

Please drop us a line or call if you would like to attend and or interview someone on the day.

CAMRA, the Campaign for Real Ale, is a not-for-profit consumer group with over 190,000 members that has been operating since 1971. Our vision is to have quality real ale and thriving pubs in every community.